Creation is Never Easy
by geek179
Summary: The Ravagers did pick up other kids before Peter, and their stories did not end as happily. Kraglin decides it's time Peter gets to hear about them. Or: In his search to create another in his image who could wield his power, Ego ended up with a lot of test runs. Spoilers. Takes place after guardians of the galaxy 2.


There was a new normal after escaping Ego's planet and recovering from that. There was much to be repaired on the Ravager ship, and the large size helped with the two new additions to their crew.

Kraglin fit in well with the rest. It was awkward at first, since the rest of them had been together longer. There was also the huge hole that the missing Ravagers used to fill, but they were gone now. Long gone. But, Peter had always been pretty close to Kraglin as he was growing up, and the rest simply followed his friendly manner. There were still moments of awkwardness of course, but when he wounded Drax with Yondu's old arrow, the other man seemed to think it was some hilarious joke and declared Kraglin as part of the family.

Mantis had also joined the group more permanently, and her blunt words and friendly attitude made it easy for her to find a place. Drax had also decided they were close friends, and frequently insisted others bond with her as well. Kraglin knew he probably wasn't the greatest socially, but compared to the rest of the group, he and Peter seemed to be the only socially adept people in the group. Granted, assassins and science projects didn't need great social skills, but the fact that space pirates were the best choice made Kraglin worried for the solitary Mantis's development. But she seemed happy in the group, so that was good enough.

It hadn't been too long since Yondu's funeral, but they were just now on their way to the Nova Corps to let them know what had happened and maybe make sure that there was no lasting damage from Ego's rampage.

They had needed to stop for a bit to repair the ship, and it still wasn't in great condition considering how fast they had come to Ego's planet and the damaged sustained it while there. The ship still wasn't top notch after the repair, more due to the lack of proper supplies than skill, but they were also hoping that maybe the Nova Corps would be willing to help out with their ship again.

They were slowly making their way through the galaxy. While they didn't need to be on any sort of sleep schedule since they were living on a ship, most of them tended to try and sleep around the same time.

Peter was up. It wasn't unusual for one or two of them to break the sleep schedule they set, but it was rarely Peter. He had always been the kind of guy to fall asleep within a few minutes and not even a sudden space storm could wake him. It had proved a bit problematic in the past honestly.

He was in the main cockpit, not steering or anything because they were running on a slow autopilot for now. He was just sitting and staring out at the stars around him. There was an unfamiliar planet off in the distance on the right, and that shadowed them from the nearest star, which played in nicely to their artificial night. Far away planets and bright stars lit up the area enough to see faintly.

"Can't sleep, Quill?" Kraglin asked from the doorway, and Quill jumped, almost hitting the lever to end the autopilot.

"Kraglin! I didn't hear you. What are you doing up?"

"Got hungry and saw you on my way back," Kraglin answered, sitting in the chair next to Peter. "What are you doing up? Never knew you to miss your sleep."

"Ah, a bad dream," Peter answered, and Kraglin knew that a better person would probably ask more, but Ravagers were never ones to talk about feelings. Peter could go to the empath if he really wanted to. Or even the walking twig was a better choice than Kraglin for this kind of thing.

They sat in silence for a while until Peter interrupted it. "Hey, you were part of the Ravagers when I got there."

Kraglin wasn't sure where he was going with this. "Been there for a lot longer than that, kid."

Peter was silent for a moment, and they both looked out at the far away stars. "Yondu said-" Peter broke off for a minute and took a deep breath. "I heard there were other kids. Before me."

"Yeah." Kraglin didn't like to think about those other kids. They didn't know what was happening until it was too late. And it led him to think about how many more kids there must have been before Yondu and the Ravagers were contracted.

But, Kraglin supposed Peter deserved this much. "There were five before you, but your old man made it seem like there were more before that."

"Not my old man," Peter said harshly.

"No," Kraglin agreed. And he started the story, so he may as well finish it. "The first two were real young. I don't remember what species they each were, but neither of 'em could talk or do much besides eat and shit, so it wasn't like we missed 'em when they were gone."

Kraglin took a deep breath. "The third kid was a little Kree girl, Kogu. She was old enough to do stuff by herself and knew enough to know we took her from her home. Her mama died right before we arrived," Peter took a deep breath but didn't look away from Kraglin. "So, it was easy to convince her that going to her old man was a good idea."

Kraglin hated himself for promising she would be okay. He hadn't known at the time, but he had thrown up once the Captain figured out what was happening and he remembered that moment. Kraglin coughed before he could continue. "Kogu took to the Captain well enough and followed him around the whole time she was with us. Seemed to think they looked alike. The Captain called her parasite the whole time she was here, but he never let her out of his sight. He told her to call if she ever wanted to be a Ravager, but she never did. We learned why later."

The bile was forming in Kraglin's throat and he thought he might throw up. "You don't have to-" Peter started, but Kraglin didn't let Peter give him an out.

"The fourth kid was from a small planet. Don't know much about the species, but there were some tentacles and we never figured out if the kid could actually hear us or even talk. Never got their name, and never heard a peep out of 'em. I heard the Captain tell the kid to get Kogu to call him, but the kid never talked, so we weren't surprised when there was no call."

Kraglin paused to take a deep breath. "What about the last one?" Peter prompted.

"Calven was Xandrain," Kraglin started.

"Like you," Peter interrupted, and Kraglin nodded.

"Don't interrupt me kid," Peter nodded and mimed zipping his lips shut. Kraglin tried not to laugh, this was not a story to laugh at. "We picked up the kid right before you. He was older, almost a man by that point."

They had found him in an unsavory part of Xander, giving a number of services to anyone that was willing to pay. The Captain had looked horrified when the boy offered and that was a moment where Kraglin remembered why he was so loyal to his captain. He knew they were horrible and despicable people, but they knew where to draw the line. "His mama died when he was young, and he had to get by on his own. Calven was a happy kid despite all that. Kid had a smile that could make anyone smile back. Most of the crew wanted to keep him by the end, but he always wanted to meet his old man."

"Yeah, I thought that too," Peter interrupted softly, but Kraglin ignored him.

"Calven promised to call, and said he would talk to Kogu for us. We gave him a communicator to make sure. When we left him, we got the coordinates for you on Terra, so we didn't hang around. Calven wanted to meet you." Peter made a noise like he'd been punched in the stomach, but Kraglin knew he had to keep going or else he wouldn't stop.

"I was there the first time he called. The Captain and I were on the bridge for a late shift, along with some of the other crew. He seemed happy. He didn't know his mama long, and talked about how much his old man loved her." Peter made another noise like he'd been punched. "But, he couldn't find Kogu, or any of the other kids we brought, and Ego was ignoring his questions." A pause. "That was the last time I ever saw him. We picked you up. Then, the Captain woke up one morning, changed the course of the ship, and told us you were small and good for thieving and it would be a waste to give you up."

"It wasn't until you were nearly grown that I heard the full story. You were Calven's age and the Captain drank too much when I asked what ever happened to the kid. Captain got a call that night before he took you in and decided not to give you back. Apparently Calven was too smart for his own good and found a cave full of bones, and the kid realized what was happening and called to warn us away. Yondu told the kid to get out of there and that he would go pick him up, but Ego found Calven first. Kid told Yondu to take care of you and hung up. Never heard from him again."

Peter's eyes were closed tightly when Kraglin looked. He pretended not to see and looked out at the stars again. "Guess it's good to know not all of that side of my family was shit," Peter said with a wet laugh that hurt a bit to hear.

Kraglin gave him another moment. "There could be more."

"More?" Peter asked, and Kraglin ignored him wiping his eyes.

"More kids," Kraglin clarified. "He had you a while ago, Quill, and we picked up those five others close together. I know I ain't that good at math, but I do know a bit about fucking around."

"More," Peter acknowledged.

"You may not like your old man, but if you got brothers and sisters out there, could be good to know," Kraglin shrugged.

"You really think I have siblings out there?" Peter asked, his earlier stress forgotten in the excitement.

"There's a chance," Kraglin answered, and they had honestly spent too much time talking about feelings today. "Go get some sleep, Peter. Gods know you're enough of a terror without adding sleep deprivation to the list."

Peter smiled widely, and Kraglin was reminded that he and Calven had been brothers, and the kid got up.

"Thanks, Kraglin," Peter whispered as he left. Kraglin just continued to stare out the window.

* * *

"Star Lord," Nova Prime said at the end of their meeting. They had briefly explained the whole saving the galaxy thing, leaving out some parts that the Nova Corps probably didn't need, like the whole Peter's dad thing, and the whole Ravager thing, and the whole letting Nebula go thing. Just a few details.

"Yeah," Peter answered, and an aid cleared her throat loudly. "I mean, Yes, your Primeness."

Rocket chuckled and Gamora kicked him under the table. Peter thought he was going to bruise.

"I have information of a more personal matter to discuss with you," Nova Prime answered. "If the rest of you could step out for a moment?"

"Anything you say to me can be said to my team," Peter informed her, and the rest of the group nodded.

"If that's what you wish." Nova Prime nodded primly. "When you were last here we found you were only half Terran."

"You are?" Drax interrupted.

"Do you listen to anything we say?" Rocket shouted, standing up in his chair and glaring at the other.

Drax thought for a moment. "Sometimes."

"Sometimes?!" Rocket howled.

"Enough!" Gamora hissed, and the other two miraculously grew quiet. She turned back to Nova Prime. "Please continue. We will not interrupt again." The words were said sweetly, but she had unsheathed her sword simultaneously which rather ruined the effect.

Nova Prime cleared her throat. "Yes, well, we could not identify the other half of your heritage, and that still remains a mystery to us, however we recently learned something rather curious."

She paused and Peter was so done with hearing all this about his biological father that he momentarily debated leaving.

"What'd you hear?" Kraglin asked, and some of the Nova Corps looked disapprovingly at him sitting in the back. They seemed to put up with his silent presence well enough, but him daring to speak was crossing the line.

"We received word of a child, a Verlax child from the planet Vere, who seems to share the same mysterious heritage."

Peter felt as though they had taken out the floor from under him. "A child?"

He caught Kraglin's eye and the man smiled to show his terrifying teeth.

Peter turned back to face Nova Prime. "How can I find them?"


End file.
